Advocacy

What is Advocacy?

An Independent Advocate can support you to speak up for yourself, to make sure your views and wishes are heard and help you to secure your rights.

If you find that it is not always easy to get your views and wishes across, an advocate can help you to make sure your voice is heard.

Your advocate’s only concern is with what you want to say, and if you ask your advocate to speak for you, they will put forward your views as if they were their own.

Your advocate may, if you wish, talk to the people closest to you, but at the end of the day, your advocate’s only concern is to make sure your views are heard. Your advocate’s job is also to make sure you understand the information which is being given to you, and that you have all the information you need.

This is to help you decide, for example, what sort of care you want; and how you would like your care to be managed.

What your advocate can do

Your advocate will only do what you want them to do. This might include:

Talking to you to find out what you think and what you want

Explaining things to you so you can make choices

Helping you to speak up, or speaking up for you if you want them to

Asking questions and getting information you need so you know all the options open to you

Supporting you to challenge a decision about you or to make a complaint